Septober, Octember, Nowonder...
WHERE did October go?? Two weeks since my last post, can't believe it.
Book-wise... I did finish The Art of Loving and need to write up my final post this weekend. For a short book it was quite a journey, and thought-provoking - I'm grateful Cleo hosted it as a readalong!
Also in non-fiction land, I read Permanent Record, Edward Snowden's new autobiographical memoir. I knew very little about him previously, and it actually blew me away. It might be because I'm a millennial: I saw bits and pieces of my own life experience in his, and it was kind of surreal reading it in book form. Of course it focuses on his path from dutiful employee to whistleblower, which was fascinating from a psychological and technological perspective. Definitely recommended.
The one classic I read was Macbeth. To be honest, I found it massively underwhelming, which is probably just me. I may try to share some thoughts about it.
I am still reading Moby-Dick for Brona's readalong...and hanging on by a thread!
Life-wise... Some of you may know I left my beloved first workplace and started a new job working entirely from home. This has radically changed my lifestyle and schedule (EST, yep!), so I spent most of October getting acclimated to it. The upshot is, I now have a great deal more free time than I used to. In November I plan to work on writing/editing, plus plowing through the stack of books left over from my botched 24-hour readathon. I am still trying to figure out the logistics of starting up my podcast again as well (can't make any guarantees yet).
On a personal note...I did travel by myself for the first time last month, not a small feat for this armchair traveler. It is a weird experience and I can't say I'd recommend it unless you have to. But I am pretty pleased I managed to make it There and Back Again without missing a flight or wrecking the rental car!
It's been a year of surprises, tough emotions, and unlikely decisions, and I don't know to what extent my reading has influenced that, if at all. For probably the first year, out of 25 books-read the majority have been non-fiction. I haven't read a single novel this year that I really loved. The year's not over yet, so here's to hoping that changes!
Comments
Good luck with the new job.
Can't wait to hear what you have to say about the end of The Art of Loving. I still have a final post, hopefully up tomorrow or the next day. It was an illuminating read and lots of great conversation!
I haven't read Macbeth yet but I do hope to get to it. I've read it before but not as in-depth as I'd like to.
How are you finding working at home? I worked at home for years .... there are benefits, but I do like getting out. That's great that you'll have more time though! Use it well! ;-)
I feel ashamed that I haven't read more non-fiction this year. With The House of Mirth read-along, hopefully you will have found a novel you like!
Mudpuddle - That is really cool! I don't think I have the guts to travel out of the country solo, though it would be an adventure. Re: Snowden, the book was a real page-turner so if you do happen upon it, it's worth a try.
Cleo - I probably need to dedicate a blog post to remote work! It's strange but overall a big improvement. And, I could hardly put The House of Mirth down... I already finished the first week's reading!!